The Texas Zoo History

The National Zoo of Texas

The Texas Zoo had its beginnings in 1957 when James L. Yates, who ran a packing plant near Foster Field, donated an African lioness to Mayor W.R. McCright. The Mayor decided that Victoria should have a zoo and approached the Lions Club, who provided a cage. Fire Marshall L.B. Richardson was assigned responsibility and the Victoria City Zoo was born. Sid Drew was hired to operate the zoo. Drew, as well as his successor, lived in a trailer house at the zoo in Riverside Park.

The lioness, named Chubby, was joined shortly thereafter by a deer, two raccoons, two ‘Mexican Eagles’ (crested Caracaras), and an owl. Cages were added as animals were donated to the zoo. In mid-1958 vandals attempted to ‘free the lioness’, prompting the addition of nighttime lighting. A mate for Chubby, named Buddy Boy, a cub imported from Africa by a sailor, found his way in 1959 to the Victoria Zoo from Houston’s Hermann Park Zoo. When Buddy became ill, local veterinarian, T.S. McMurray volunteered to treat him. With this initiation, Dr. McMurray gradually increased his contributions to the zoo, and became a significant influence in Victoria’s zoo for some twenty-five years – serving as volunteer veterinarian, Executive Director and President of the Board of Directors.

In 1960, Chubby gave birth to her first set of cubs, a set of twins. Starting a tradition that continues today, a naming contest was held. Mayor McCright personally sponsored the contest and provided the twenty-five dollar prize. The cubs were named Rose and Bud, Jr. by four-year-old Beverly Ann Winter, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. C.N. Winter. Over the years, Chubby and Buddy provided the zoo with over a score of cubs, which were then exchanged with other zoos for various animals. Chubby, matriarch of the zoo, succumbed to cancer sometime before 1970.

In 1962 B.E. Leissner, a local pharmacist, and Lester A. ‘Bugs’ Meis, a local pest control operator, who as active members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce had supported zoo development from the beginning, proposed creation of a Zoo Commission to oversee operations and planning. The City council agreed and appointed City Manager John Lee, and former Mayor W.R. McCright to the Commission along with Leissner and Meis. The Commission immediately renamed the zoo the Victoria Children’s Zoo and initiated a fund raising drive for expansion. Expansion plans called for a monkey island, snake house, large bird area, and cages for large animals. Visitors from 107 cities, 19 states, and Germany signed the guest register in the first nine days of the Children’s Zoo, demonstrating the value of the zoo as a tourist attraction.

The Zoo Commission was so successful that the City Council expanded their duties to include the adjacent amusement park and other city park facilities and renamed the group the Park Commission.

The Zoo grew to include many species that were housed in barred/wired cages and pens. Bears, Barbados sheep, a camel, Russian Boars, an Anaconda, monkeys, parrots, parakeets, penguins, and peacocks were gradually accumulated. Many were donated like the pair of bears donated in 1959 by Tom O’Connor and Victoria Bank and Trust Company. Over the years the O’Connor brothers, Dennis and Tom, were consistent, strong supporters of Victoria’s zoos. Another ‘early’ donation was received from police when a two-foot alligator, found in the 500 block of East Power Street, was given to the zoo. But, alas, a couple of days later, Milton Waitschies showed up at the Zoo and claimed his lost pet. The City operated an amusement park, including a merry-go-round, roller coaster, and miniature autos and airplanes, in an area adjacent to the Zoo. Visitors could depart from a ‘western train station’ for a half-mile ride around the Zoo on a miniature train operated by the Suburban Kiwanis Club. Another interesting ‘ride’ was provided on a 300-pound Galapagos Island turtle, purchased from a Louisiana dealer who in 1963 had just imported it and personally delivered it on his World War II bomber, a B-25.

In 1961, The Victoria Zoo gained national attention after a Baylor student, Bill Moore, made arrangements to have two eight-month old black bear cubs born to the Zoo’s Bertha and Barney transferred to Baylor to serve as the mascot. Unfortunately, about a month later, Ginger died in a kidnapping attempt by pranksters from the University of Texas. The kidnapping and the fact that the cubs were from the Victoria Zoo were widely recorded in national press.

The original zoo was located slightly southeast of its present location. By the early 1960’s the Zoo had grown to include more than 200 animals of 60 species, necessitating continual addition of cages. Most cages were constructed with donated funds and City labor under the direction of Meis and Leissner.

 Acting on a recommendation from B.E.Leissner, Jr., Chairman of the City Park and Recreation Commission, the City council approved transfer of the zoo and on June 1, 1966, the South Texas Zoological Society, took over operation of the Victoria Children’s Zoo under a lease-operate agreement with the city of Victoria. The STZS is a privately chartered group, founded in 1963 to support the zoo, and was originally headed by Dr. William B. Milligan. The Society continues to be responsible for the Zoo. Five Zoo employees chose to resign their City posts in order to continue their work with the zoo. They were: Solon Neeley, a former Victoria police officer, who had become Zoo director when Sid Drew left in July 1963; his wife, Joy; Felix de la Garza; Armando Aquirre, and Lupe Zapata. Under terms of the lease-operate agreement the STZS owned and operated the Zoo, but ownership would revert to the city if the Society failed.

The South Texas Zoological Society formulated plans to develop a zoological park with a modern concept that would be educational in scope, yet retain recreational attributes. Animals would be contained in ‘natural habitat’ exhibits. John M. Mehrtens, general curator of the Fort Worth Zoological Park, was hired in April 1967 to develop the new zoo. The first phase of this development was a 6000 sq. ft. building of Spanish Colonial architecture, the Animal Kingdom Building, constructed in a grove of trees across the street from the Children’s Zoo. Zoo supporters financed the $75,000 building. Following ribbon cutting by Dr. William B. Milligan, the Animal Kingdom Building was opened to the public on May 31, 1968. Mehrtens noted that the building was home to some 200 animals of 85 different species, including Moustache monkeys, Bahama land crabs, Fennec fox, Discus fish, and African chameleon.

The Parks and Recreation Commission of the city, the Victoria Jaycees, and the Junior League all supported zoo development, but the Society was tasked with finding sufficient funds. Following a casual suggestion from Henry Wolff, Jr., Curator Glenn Cook suggested to the Board that the zoo be converted into a ‘Texas Zoo’ and to focus attention on conservation education.

This concept recognized that the zoo did not have to look any further than Texas to offer an exciting experience to the public. Texas, with a vast array of wildlife in very diversified habitats, was an incredible ‘classroom’. This concept was even more attractive considering that indigenous animals would be acclimatized, and foods needed for specific diets would be readily available and less costly. Victorians wholeheartedly supported the concept. A rehabilitation program for orphaned and injured wild animals was also incorporated into the zoo program. This effort continued until 2001 when sufficient resources throughout the community had developed to the point that the service was no longer needed.

The mission of the Texas Zoo is “ To promote conservation of Texas fauna and flora through education, preservation, and conservation.”

The Texas Zoo opened in June 1976 with ‘natural habitat’ exhibits in the areas surrounding the Animal Kingdom Building. About $750,000 had been raised to construct the zoo, almost all through donations and grants. Robert Thomas, John Killough, Bob Woodman, Kathleen Grimes, Paco Buhler, and David Smith led this successful fund raising. While funds raised met the original goal, rapid cost escalation during this period of time resulted in money being insufficient to accomplish the original scope. The decision was made to reduce scope, rather than sacrifice the quality of construction, hoping to complete the project at a later date. The second phase of construction was never completed.

Since the 1970’s, the Zoo became well known nationwide for its expertise with native wildlife. The part the Texas Zoo plays is that of breeding threatened and endangered animals – both for release into the wild and for zoo collections around the world. In the 1980’s breeding focus was on white-nosed coatis. Coatis like Roxanne helped the Zoo’s collection of coatis grow to be the largest in the nation. By the 1990’s, through distribution of young to other zoos, most captive coatis could be traced to those born in Victoria.

Another breeding initiative that received national attention was for the red wolf. While this species once ranged over most of the southeast part of the country, the last 14 purebred red wolves were extirpated from the wild in the late 1960’s following passage of the Endangered Species Act. This was the world’s first attempted capture/breed/re-introduce program for a species facing extinction. Recovery planning and initial breeding was at Fort Defiance Washington, but in 1983, the Texas Zoo became the first zoo in Texas, and the third zoo in the nation to add red wolves to their collection as part of the recovery initiative. Under the leadership of Executive Director Jackie Mead, who served on the National Red Wolf Species Survival Plan Propagation  Group, two male wolves at Victoria were responsible for siring over two dozen pups.

In June 1984, The Texas Zoo was designated ‘The National Zoo of Texas’ by the 68^th Texas Legislature. Legislation was sponsored by Representative Ken Armbrister and signed by Governor Mark White. In October of 1989, through the efforts of long term Society President Dennis Williams and Zoo Director Jackie Mead, The Texas Zoo received its first accreditation from the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (now AZA), making it one of only 147 zoos of the over 3000 in the country to qualify for this high level of professional excellence. Accreditation was renewed in 1994, and again in 1999 and 2003.

In 2000, as part of the Zoo’s mission of ‘conservation education’ displays were completely revised, based upon concepts developed by Education Curator Debra Jahn. Included were hands on exhibits and whooping crane specimens.

When the zoo was created in 1976, it was surrounded by a five-foot high berm, provided by the City, designed to protect against floods like the ‘flood of record’ which occurred in the 1930’s. Yet, on three occasions, floods have damaged the Zoo. One event occurred in September 1981 and another in June 1997 when an underground drain valve failed, remaining partly open and allowed river water to flow backwards into the Zoo. Both times the zoo was closed for several days. A much more significant event occurred in October, 1998 when the Guadalupe River rose to about three feet above the flood of record, breaching the berm and inundating the zoo with water which reached many feet deep throughout the zoo. In each of the floods, many animals had been relocated from the zoo to high ground, and others located in high quarters within the zoo, but there was some loss of animals. The zoo was totally closed for five months following the 1998 flood and it took nearly two years to replace buildings and contents valued over $750,000.

                  Excerpted from an account by Bill Farnsworth